Before & After: Armchairs & ottoman

These two armchairs & ottoman were in a sorry state when they arrived at our workshop. The fabric was worn and the cushions were lumpy, bumpy & sad. Additionally, the nailhead trim & dark wood feet no longer matched the room that they sat in.

We re-stuffed the cushions, and updated the design by adding a skirt to both chairs and the ottoman. They are now upholstered in an ivory linen, Fiji by Bergamo. The fabric is quite beautiful and gives these chairs an air of understated elegance.

The matching ottoman is shown below.

Reupholstered French Country Bench

We unfortunately did not get a before shot of this piece, but the front center leg was broken and there was no seat.

We repaired the leg, and then upholstered the seat in milk chocolate leather. The heavy tufting is juxaposed against the cane back, giving this French country piece a homey, down-to-earth flare.

Before & After: Eames Compact Sofa

It's always great when a piece comes in like this. Charles & Ray Eames initially designed the Compact Sofa as a built-in sofa in their Pacific Palisades home in the 1940's.  They enjoyed it so much that they later designed a freestanding version, which has been in continuous production since 1954.

In terms of sofa design, it is nothing like a traditional sofa but is instead lightly scaled & streamlined. It's perfect for smaller spaces and rooms where a traditional sofa would not work, but is also a great focal piece in larger rooms where a modern look is desired.

We reupholstered this Eames Compact Sofa in black vinyl, what do you think of the transformation?

Restoration: Ron Arad Car Seat

There's a great story surrounding Ron Arad's car seats. Back in 1981, he was an architect in London. One day, out of boredom, he headed to a scrap yard nearby and yanked two leather seats out of a Rover automobile, and made armchairs out of them.

Unbeknownst to him, these chairs propelled him into design and changed his career path. Years later, those same armchairs, the ones he yanked out in a dirty scrap yard with a few tools, were to be installed and shown in an exhibit, and Arad was not allowed to touch them without white gloves.

Our client has had her Arad car seats for several years and they were quite worn out, the leather faded and torn. We recovered them in a beautiful European leather, bringing this collectable piece back to its' original beauty.

Classic Design is on Facebook!

Well, Classic Design has taken the plunge into more social media! We are now on Facebook! Excuse us while we populate the page and get settled, but meanwhile, please feel free to 'like' us and follow our updates! The Classic Design Facebook page is here!

Custom Sofa with Wood Framed Back

This is another piece we finished recently for a large installation in Aspen, Colorado. The sofa frame was fabricated in walnut with a dark chocolate brown finish.

The exposed wood frame extends along the bottom of the sofa and the wood hugs the piece around the back. Aesthetically, the contrast of the dark hard wood and lighter plush velvet fabric will provide a beautiful focal point in our clients' rocky mountain vacation home.

Classic French Tufted Chair

This beautiful custom chair was recently finished for a client in New York. The style is classic French, with tufting on the seat & back, and hand turned legs with casters.

It is a difficult and complicated process to make a piece of furniture like this, and sometimes we are commissioned when other shops are unable to produce a piece like this. However, all the upholsterers in our shop have been trained by Raoul Benassaya, who is a third generation furniture maker from Paris.

Many modern day furniture makers have lost the art of classic upholstery, mostly due to the fact that so much furniture is factory-made overseas. However, here at Classic Design, we still make furniture the way it was made for centuries, by hand, using classic techniques that have been handed down for generations to those who apprenticed and learned the art.